1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a toothbrush with a toothbrush body, comprising a shaft-like handle, a neck section joining said handle and headpiece for toothbrush bristles, said body being made of a first plastic material through injection moulding, and said body being provided with two or more portions made of a second material, e.g. elastic and/or non slip material such as rubber-like material, or material having a colour different from that of said first material.
Further, the invention relates to a method for making a toothbrush of the type having a shaft-like handle, a neck-section joining said handle and headpiece for toothbrush bristles, said body being made of a first plastic material through an injection moulding step, and said body being provided with two or more portions made of a second material, e.g. elastic and/or non-slip material, or a material having a colour different from that of said first material, through a further injection moulding step.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the various shapes of toothbrushes are already known. When used, the brush is rotated between the fingers holding it, according to the various positions for the dental areas to be cleaned, and then held securely for the cleaning process itself. Location of position essentially takes place at the front end of the handle in front of the neck section joining the head of the brush, as the toothbrush is held between the thumb and index fingers. This holding area customarily has shapings, possibly provided with a profiled portion, which favour advantages holding of the brush only in a "preferred" position or possibly also in a position rotated 180 degrees to this. Intermediate positions require the hand or arm to be twisted, making it uncomfortable, however, to carry out the cleaning movement which is intended.
In the art, it is known to have a toothbrush with one or more non-slip portions applied to the toothbrush body. Such portions are provided by a single point injection moulding of elastic and/or non-slip material, e.g. rubber-like material, to fill recesses on the toothbrush body, thus forming said portions. However, single point injection moulding implies that when having two or more areas of recesses to be filled in order to create such portions, there must be a material flow channel or channels available between such areas or recesses on said body in order to enable said material to flow into said areas or recesses in such a single shot, single point injection moulding step. However, such channels will in most cases be aesthetically non-satisfactory, and more than often a matter of design trade-off. Further, especially on toothbrush handles made of transparent material and in cases of desiring a more flexible approach in toothbrush design, such channels will in some cases cause the toothbrush body at the location of such channels, or adjacent thereto to be structurally weaker, in particular at the neck region of the toothbrush body. In particular, if both the head and handle of the toothbrush are to have such elastic and/or non-slip material, the prior art method of using single point injection moulding of such material will result in a toothbrush having a structurally weakened neck because of the material flow channels to be located in said neck.